Vesper by Jeff Sampson

Emily Webb is a geek. And she’s happy that way. Content hiding under hoodies and curling up to watch old horror flicks, she’s never been the kind of girl who sneaks out for midnight parties. And she’s definitely not the kind of girl who starts fights or flirts with other girls’ boyfriends. Until one night Emily finds herself doing exactly that . . . the same night one of her classmates—also named Emily—is found mysteriously murdered.

The thing is, Emily doesn’t know why she’s doing any of this. By day, she’s the same old boring Emily, but by night, she turns into a thrill seeker. With every nightfall, Emily gets wilder until it’s no longer just her personality that changes. Her body can do things it never could before: Emily is now strong, fast, and utterly fearless. And soon Emily realizes that she’s not just coming out of her shell . . . there’s something much bigger going on. Is she bewitched by the soul of the other, murdered Emily? Or is Emily Webb becoming something else entirely— something not human?

As Emily hunts for answers, she finds out that she’s not the only one this is happening to—some of her classmates are changing as well. Who is turning these teens into monsters—and how many people will they kill to get what they want?

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this one . . . it sounded so ominous like. Was something possessing Emily? Was she infected? SPOILER ALERT: Turns out she’s a werewolf. (womp womp womp). I’m not a huge fan of the wolves, in fact to date I’ve only really loved one series with them (TEAM REN!!!). Now with that being said, it did start off with a bang, the first chapter really sucks you in. There are several classmates that are being shot and killed at the same time that Emily keeps having these strange nights where she acts completely out of her normal sedate self, dressing provocatively, going to clubs, etc.

As the book progresses you don’t really get much background about what is happening, it’s more like you just know at a certain point, no build up to anything. The most that is given to us is that Emily has found a connection between the shooting victims, albeit a loose one, that their parents both worked for the same company, BioZenith. The story read more like a second book in a series like I’m missing part of the puzzle. Especially when the books cuts between the story and a taped interview of Emily (apparently telling the story we are reading) to a gentlemen calling her a “Deviant” where we get no further explanation then Deviants are “the ones we haven’t observed.” Very cloak and dagger like and not in a good way. Where is the background? How did she get to the interview? I’m assuming book 2 also takes place before the interview?? I just don’t know.

To me you definitely can tell it was a guy writer and not female (the whole bit with her tail?? BUH) The book definitely sets up for a sequel and I will read it to see what happens, but I’m not that happy about it.